Tag fantasy adventure

Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains

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Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains
Francesca Gibbons, illustrated by Chris Riddell
Harper Collins Children’s Books

Like the first story, sparkling with excitement is the second totally spellbinding adventure in the Clock of Stars series.

Herein Imogen and Marie, whose home life has changed due to their mum’s new man Mark, return through the door in the tree to the magical land of Yaroslav, where they find much has changed too. Miro has become king and hates it, while Anneshka is Queen no longer and is equally unhappy about it. So when she hears a prophecy that she will rule the Greatest Kingdom, she seizes Marie, believing her to be the key to its fulfilment, and heads off over the mountains pursued by Imogen who feels it’s her fault her sister is in this situation, and Miro. (Chris Ridell’s superb illustrations of the characters at the beginning of the book will remind readers of who’s who.)

As the story unfolds, unimaginable dangers are faced by both sisters and Imogen is beset by worry creatures that niggle at her feelings sometimes undermining her ability to function properly. Readers too feel frissons of fear at various points throughout (the very idea of those krootymosh be they real or not, is nightmarish as is the sight of that Yedleek) but the telling is funny too, as little by little, both sisters learn to navigate both the ups and downs of life in their own world and in Yaroslav.

Be prepared for an emotional roller-coaster as surprising events unfold and revelations are made both good and not so good, as inevitably both Imogen and Marie learn to look differently at things and in so doing undergo changes in themselves.

This particular adventure concludes satisfyingly but we know by what is said in the epilogue everything is not over quite yet. Bring on the third book say I.

Millie’s Missing Yawn

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Millie’s Missing Yawn
You Jung Byun
Pavilion Children’s Books

We’ve probably all, in the UK at least, had trouble sleeping these past few weeks on account of the heat, so perhaps it’s one of those kind of sultry nights for young Millie. Sleep eludes her despite carrying out her usual warm bath, putting on of favourite pjs, sharing of her favourite book and the bestowal of a goodnight kiss on teddy Milo. What’s missing is her yawn, she tells her ted, and the two spring out of bed to start a search for it.

Dozy dog Barley certainly hasn’t seen it, neither have equally sleepy moggy Cucumber and pigeon Douglas.
Millie decides to look further afield, calling on Lady Liberty, the Moai Heads

and Mona Lisa. Even from the penguins her query receives a sleepy ‘’Oh no, sorry”; they’ve spent all day skiing, sledging and snowball making.

Hippo is eager to show off his own gaping yawn but hasn’t seen so much as a glimpse of Millie’s. Ditto the Great Sphinx.
If that world trip with all its yawners hasn’t got your listeners doing enormously wide AAAAAAHHHHs then nothing will. But what is Millie to do? Seemingly there is only one thing;

but her lunar voyage too proves yawnless, at least for her, although the bunnies certainly appear ready for some shut eye.

Feeling defeated, Millie decides to return home and as she lies back tucked up safely in her bed once more, contemplating the night sky and those she’s met, no doubt your audience will be able to predict what happens next …

This superbly soporific story is full of yaaaaawing characters all beautifully portrayed by the author You Jung Byun whose illustrations are full of lovely patterns and textures. Aaaahhhhh, I feel another yawn starting to engulf me …

Martha & Me

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Martha & Me
created by It’s Raining Elephants aka Nina Wehrie and Evelyne Laube
Thames & Hudson

There’s a touch of Harold and the Purple Crayon and Antony Browne’s pencil wielding Bear about this splendidly playful tale.

It all begins when creative young miss, Martha, paints a large lion picture. And no sooner is it completed than out from the frame steps the story’s narrator, none other than the lion himself.

Then, in rhyming fashion, he relates how the two of them embark on an imaginary amazing adventure over sea, onto an island, through a jungle and then straight into an extremely splashy water fight.

Their playfulness escalates just a tad too far when the narrator oversteps the mark with a jump and a snap of his jaws.

Martha however gives as good as she gets, retaliating with a massive ROAR.

This calms things down temporarily and the two mop up (or rather Martha does while her playmate stays still and quiet), make up and embark upon another adventure in the park.
This culminates in the two friends becoming airborne …

and Martha tumbling down, back into her room sans lion.

Play has come to a halt, but perhaps it isn’t quite the end …

Scratchy line drawing and striking painting with touches of Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionism create an imaginary and dynamic play-scape that will delight and absorb both listeners and readers aloud.

Summer Evening/Unbelievable Summer Truth

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Summer Evening
Walter de la Mare illustrated by Carolina Rabei
Faber & Faber
What a glorious evocation of the countryside in summer is this book. Just eight lines penned by one of our best loved poets, have now been made into a glowing portrayal of a group of people delighting in their rural life as the sun slowly sinks over the hills.
We share the red, orange and golden sunset with the Farmer, a woman and two children, a cat and a dog,

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‘Old Rover in his moss-greened house/ Mumbles a bone, /and barks at a mouse.’
We then see the children following a cat-and-mouse chase as it unfolds inside and out …

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until finally, peace and harmony are restored, the animals all fed and the sun has given way to the moon.
You can almost hear that scintillating shimmering sun and feel that incandescent haze of high summer

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coming off the pages through Caroline Rabei’s scenes in this beautiful synthesis of poetry and pictures.
A ‘must have’ for the family bookshelf and for all early years settings and primary schools.

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The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer
Davide Cali and Benjamin Chaud
Chronicle Books
The summer hols. are over (that really must be a bad dream; they’ve not even started yet: but back to the story). “What did you do this summer?” the teacher – as they always do – asks the young narrator of this crazy tale. Instantly we’re on the beach where the lad, accompanied by his dachshund, finds a treasure map only to have it snatched immediately by a passing magpie. Thus begins a chase which takes boy and dog (and readers) onto a pirate ship …

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and thence into a fast moving adventure involving a giant squid, a submarine …

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a film set with a very helpful actress who assists in the retrieval of the map.

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With the treasure hunt back in full swing so to speak, there follows a trip in a hot air balloon, a foray into the desert, a timely rescue by the boy’s uncle (in his flying machine) who drops his nephew onto a desert island where the pesky magpie (yes, the same one) seizes the map once again.

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Operation map retrieval is thus resumed taking our hero to the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and a snowy land populated by yeti.
Yes, in case you are wondering, the boy does finally discover treasure which, after all that, is something of a let down, although it’s not actually THE treasure but hey! the underwater scenes are still pretty wonderful. (Observant readers won’t miss what the boy does.) And that’s not quite the end of this bonkers book; there’s something of a twist in its tale; something that took place a few months earlier … bringing us back full circle to where we began, and I suspect readers back to the start of the book searching for clues of a visual nature, in Benjamin Chaud’s gigglesome, detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.
Another winner from the Cali/Chaud partnership.

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